Chapter 23: Put the Happy in the Holidays
("Hmm...present...present…") May thought.
May is currently in the store in the morning on Christmas Eve. She's going to buy Drew a present because she's going to see him later in the day.
May gasped silently when she noticed something in a display case. She saw a red rose in a glass case like in Beauty and the Beast. And there are Christmas lights inside of the case around the rose that are on. It's the perfect lamp for Drew.
("It's so beautiful…") May thought. ("But will he like a lamp?")
"Princess, is there anything I can help you with?" An employee said.
"Umm...I'll buy this beautiful lamp." May said.
"Of course, Your Highness." The employee said. He took out a key and unlocked the display case. He grabbed a box and closed the display case, locking it. "Will that be all for you, Princess?"
"Yes." May answered.
They both walk to the checkout counter. The employee scans the box.
"50 Pokédollars please." The employee said.
May opened her wallet and took out 3 twenty Pokédollar bills. She handed them to the cashier. "Keep the change."
"Thank you, Princess." The employee put the box with the rose lamp in a bag. "So, did you buy the lamp for anyone in particular?"
"Yeah, it's...for a friend." May answered.
"Well, thank you for shopping with us, Your Highness." The employee said as he handed May the bag. "Have a merry Christmas."
"Thank you. You too." With that said, May left the store with Drew's present.
Once May stepped outside of the store, she gasped. What she saw outside was snow. It's snowing right now. Right on time for Christmas. The ground was already getting covered in snow. May entered the carriage that was parked in front of the store. They started going back to the castle.
"So, all set?" Dahlia asked.
"Yep!" May answered happily. Since the castle has a room with holiday supplies in it, May was able to find a Christmas present bag to put her present for Drew inside. She put green tissue paper in the bag. "I hope Drew will find a good use for this lamp. Even if he doesn't need it to light anything up, it's still really beautiful."
"I'm sure he'll love it. But you better get going now. It's almost noon." Dahlia said.
"Right." May said. She put on her wig and grabbed the gift bag and started walking towards the door.
May got stopped when she saw that Ponyta ran in front of her.
"Ponyta, what is it?" May asked.
Ponyta neighed at May as if saying that she wants to go with her. May bent down to Ponyta's level.
"You want to come too?" May asked. Ponyta neighed happily in agreement. "Well...I suppose that's okay. It's a snow day today and there are tons of Pokémon for you to meet at Bellossom Fields, so why not?"
With that said, May stood up and walked outside, followed by Ponyta. Ponyta stared at the sky while they're walking. Snow is getting caught in her mane. They're walking on snow and Ponyta looks down at the ground.
May giggled. "That's called snow." Ponyta looked up at May. "It usually snows during Winter. Don't you think snow is fun to walk and play in?"
Ponyta leaped happily, neighing.
"Well, here we are." May said as they entered the large flower field. Bellossom Fields. They walk further in and see Drew standing there, back facing them. "Drew!" May called.
Drew turned around. "You made it."
May stopped in front of him. "Of course I did. I never break a promise."
"You didn't promise me though."
"But still, I said I'll come, so I kept my word for it." May said.
Drew smiled. "Well, I see you brought your Ponyta." He said as he looked at Ponyta, who's currently hiding behind May's leg.
May looked down at Ponyta. "Yeah. She wanted to come with me. Ponyta, try and make friends with those grass Pokémon over there." May pointed out.
Ponyta shyly walked over to the dancing Bellossom in the distance.
"So…" Drew said.
"So…" May/Daisy said.
There was an awkward silence between them. It was like they both wanted to receive their gift first.
"Well, umm…" May said. "Here." She held out Drew's gift to him. "You first."
Drew put Daisy's gift on the floor and took his. He stared at the gift bag.
"A little warning for you. It's breakable." May said.
"I'll keep that in mind." Drew said. "Should we actually open our presents during Christmas? Or do you want to see my reaction now?"
"Whatever you want to do." May said. "I mean...I really don't even know if you'll like it…" She said shyly.
Drew sat down on the ground. "Then why would you get it for me?"
"Well…" May sat down. "I thought it was beautiful, so I got it."
"Because you think I'm beautiful?" Drew asked, smirking.
May blushed. "J-just open it already."
Drew started taking out the tissue paper. He looked at what was inside the gift bag.
"Wow...you're right...it is beautiful like me."
"I never said you were beautiful!" May yelled.
Drew looked up at her and smiled. "You really know my style."
"Roses are considered a style?" She questioned.
Drew flicked his hair. "It's just...part of who I am this year."
May blinked. "This year? What about last year and the year before? Roses weren't your thing?"
"No they weren't." Drew answered. "I only started actually giving roses this year...because I met you." He added.
May blushed again.
"Anyways, I love my present." Drew said. He grabbed May's gift bag and placed it in front of her. "Your turn."
"Okay." May took out the tissue paper. She looked inside the bag and took out what was inside.
She stared at a snow globe. Inside of it was a little figurine of Drew holding out a rose to a little figurine of Daisy. They were also in a field of flowers with a giant Christmas tree in the back, decorated top to bottom.
"How did you…?" May said.
"You won't believe the things rich people can pay for." Drew answered May's unfinished question.
"Y-yeah…" May/Daisy said.
"Shake the globe."
May shook the globe up and down a few times. When she stared at it again, there was snow falling inside of it. She smiled and blushed. She was just looking at the figure of Drew holding out his signature rose to her.
"Like it?" Drew asked.
May looked up at him. "I love it. Rich people can make incredible things, huh?"
"Yep. I just paid a person a lot of money to make those figures as perfect as they can be like in real life. And I had to wait an entire month to see the end result."
"Wow...well...it's amazing. Thank you Drew." May said.
"And thank you for the gift too. You didn't have to though."
"I know that, but it's just my personality." May said. "I couldn't accept a gift without giving you one too."
"Well...I like that part of you."
May blushed and looked away from Drew. She turned her attention to Ponyta and saw that Ponyta is happily leaping around the Bellossom while they dance. Drew looked at Ponyta as well.
"She's finally playing with the other Pokémon." May said.
"I can tell that you've been a great trainer to her."
May looked at Drew. "You're complimenting me?"
Drew glanced at May/Daisy. "Don't get used to it." He looked at Ponyta again.
May decided not to yell at Drew this time. After all, tomorrow is Christmas. She shouldn't get mad during this wonderful time of the year.
"Well, thank you for the compliment." May said.
May gasped. "It's so pretty!"
It's Christmas Day and May, Caroline, Norman, and Dahlia are sitting down in a room with a fireplace and a giant Christmas tree. They're opening presents. May holds up a dress that she got. It's a dress for Christmas. It's made out of a velvet red fabric. The bottom is soft fake white fur and so are the wrists and around the v-neck. There's also a black belt around the waist.
"I'll wear it later today when I go into the city." May said.
May is currently riding in the carriage around the city with Ponyta. She's wearing her new Christmas dress. They're seeing many snowmen, snow angels, and snowball fights. It's the perfect Christmas Day May could ask for. Snow, smiles, and laughter. May always loved to see smiles on everyone's faces and hear laughter.
May saw something in the distance. "Stop the carriage."
The coachman stopped the carriage and May exited the carriage with Ponyta. They came across two kids with frowns on their faces and May couldn't bear to see people sad on Christmas. The boy is 7 and the girl is 8.
"Hey, is everything okay?" May asked the two kids.
They looked up at May. "Princess May?" The boy questioned.
"Yes, that's me. And I'm here to find out why you two look sad on this wonderful day." May said.
"Well...it's just that...we don't really like Christmas." The girl said.
May gasped. "And why not?"
"Well, our parents don't really believe in Christmas." The boy said. "We don't get any presents from Santa or from them."
"And we never buy any decorations for a tree or the house." The girl said. "In our family, we just ignore Christmas. So yeah. That's why we're sad."
May wants to help these two kids...but how? ("I need to show them what Christmas is about…") May thought. ("Family...friends...presents...and a happy and fun time in the snow.")
May smiled. "I'm going to help you see the magic of Christmas."
"How will you do that?" The girl asked.
"Just follow me. Come on!" May said as she and Ponyta started running off. The two kids ran after them. They stopped in the middle of the main road. May turned to face them. Cue the music.
(This song is "Put the Happy in the Holidays" by Disney Channel Stars.)
"Who was knocking at the door?" May sang. "What we've been waiting for." She sang as she skipped to the left and stood in front of a house. She faced the kids again. "Just plug it in and turn it on." May snapped her fingers at the house and the lights on the trees in the front yard turned on. The two kids opened their mouths in amazement. "And get back up on the beat." She continued as she skipped to the kids. "Positive energy. And just move your feet and sing along." The four of them ran up the street (as fast as they could run in snow).
"And I said hey, hey everybody. You and me, it's a party." May sang, so the townspeople could hear. The people living on that street all peeked out of their houses. "We never know what's coming next." They stopped in front of someone's house. The owner of that house and the two houses on both sides of it came out and stood in their front yard.
"Aww yeah, family and friends." The middle house owner sang.
"Nice to see you in that sweater again." The right house owner sang, pointing to the one in the middle.
"You're growing up." The middle one sang to the left one.
"You got so tall." The left one replied.
"Let's grab some dessert." The right one sang.
"Hey, don't take it all." The middle one sang.
"Unwrap the celebrate." May sang. She started leading the kids down the street. "Unwrap the feeling great. Unwrap the this is just what we needed. So now appreciate." The kids were watching some people having a snowball fight. "We've got so many ways. To put the happy in the holidays."
"It's all right, it's all right. It's all light, all light." May sang as they turned a corner. "All night, all night. I'm saying na, na, na." May noticed the gang on the side of a building. "All right, all right. It's all light, all light." They started approaching them. "All night, all night."
The gang saw Princess May and got the picture that they're supposed to join in the song. "Awe, you giving me the feels." Gary sang. May giggled.
"I've really missed your smile." May sang to the two kids. "Sit down and stay awhile." The two kids sat down on the bench of a house. "Always a joy to see you here." The kids quickly stood up because the bench was too cold.
"I got something for you." Dawn sang to the kids. "Funny pajamas coming through." She sang as she handed the kids each a pair of pajamas. "Shout out now, can I get a cheer?" They all went back to the road and started walking down it again. The gang followed behind May, the kids, and Ponyta.
"And I said hey, hey everybody." May sang. "You and me, it's a party. We never know what's coming next." She sang as Misty handed the kids a present. "Surprise!" Everyone stopped walking. When May said surprise, the box lid flew off of the box and confetti sprayed out. It's now raining confetti over them.
"Open it up and it's raining confetti." Dawn sang. "Feels like a win-win, you're giving, you're getting. This is the time for just letting it go. And enjoying the family."
"Unwrap the celebrate." May sang. "Unwrap the feeling great. Unwrap the this is just what we needed." The two kids looked around at the many Christmas decorations. "So now appreciate. We've got so many ways. To put the happy in the holidays."
"Fa, la, la, la." The gang minus May sang.
"I'm so glad that some things never change." May sang.
"Fa, la, la, la." The gang repeated.
"You're the happy in my holiday." May sang to the two kids.
"Unwrap the celebrate. Unwrap the feeling great. Unwrap the this is just what we needed." May sang. They came across someone dressed up as Santa in front of a store. They walked to him. May stood next to the Santa and sang to the kids. "So now appreciate. We've got so many ways. To put the happy in the holidays." The two kids shook hands with Santa. They beamed and ran to the middle of the street.
"It's all right, all right." The boy sang as they looked around them. "It's all light, all light. All night, all night. I'm singing na, na, na."
"All right, all right. It's all light, all light." The girl sang. "Let's put the happy in the holidays." She finished the song.
The gang walked to the two kids. May bent down to be at their level. "So, do you guys see the magic of Christmas now?" May asked.
"Yes! We do!" The girl exclaimed. "And it's all thanks to you, Princess May."
"Aww...it was nothing. All I did was sing a song." May said.
"But that song opened our eyes to everything we've been missing all this time." The girl said.
"Yeah. We know what Christmas is about. Thank you for that, Princess." The boy said.
"You're welcome." May said.
The two kids ran off, smiling and laughing. May faced the gang.
"You guys were amazing. Thanks for joining me in helping those two kids."
"You're welcome, Princess! It was fun!" Dawn said happily.
Drew stared into May's eyes. He then looked at her Ponyta. He walked to May and stood in front of her.
They looked into each other's eyes. "Random question, Your Highness, but did you end up hatching that Ponyta from an egg?"
May knew exactly why Drew asked that question. How could she forget that Princess May never had a Ponyta before December? Drew is on to her.
"Umm...well, I don't know if it hatched from an egg, but my parents gave it to me for Christmas." May lied.
"Oh. Okay then." Drew said.
"Now, it was nice seeing you all again in Petalburg. If you excuse me, I need to go to the carriage." May said. She walked away towards where she left the carriage.
("I guess it's all in my imagination, but...the Princess has a Galarian Ponyta just like Daisy.") Drew thought.